Erin
by scottiegal2012
Summary: When a young cadet runs off to join the Maquis there's only one person qualified to go after her.
1. Part One

**Erin**

It hadn't come up in a while, that she wasn't his... not really his. Years at best since she'd mulled over the tale of her birthfather and how she came to be. How her mother desperately needed someone to help her raise a baby. How he agreed without condition to be _Daddy_. How her parents developed a romance around an unexpected child. How she had the perfect family under the strangest of circumstances. She stared at him, watching his fingers work over the controls to guide their small ship. He moved it perfectly through the meteor field. The shards of broken rock surrounded a handful of worlds that made up the largest collection of Bajoran colonies along the Cardassian Border. Being the only two in the forward section gave the glorified shuttle a chilling silence as they broke through the other side. She exhaled sharply, earning a glance from the elder.

"Worry you?"

"I trust you, but..."

"Not completely."

"No, it's just nerve wracking to be in such a small ship." She offered the last awkwardly.

"Check for the Cardassian." He smiled softly at her and returned the ship to the computer's control.

"Turning around. I don't think he wanted to bother with us, not at the risk of his fancy craft." She looked up and studied his back. She was used to the stiff Starfleet protocols both of her parents oozed. Well, more her mother, but her father was every bit a Starfleet Captain that her mother had been before she was even a thought let alone born. Now Erin Janeway watched her father, dressed in the dusky neutrals and clays most Maquis fighters wore. A twinge of guilt hit her. It'd been 6 weeks since she had left earth, bent on fighting the still endless battle between the people on the border and the Cardassians. The two decades of war that had pitted the Federation and the Dominion hadn't deterred the fight against the occupation bent power race, but the rebel fighters were badly needing recruits. When a young man in her class suggested she could be an asset, she jumped at the chance. Starfleet Academy, with it's rigid rules, harsh penalties, and difficult goals didn't push her limits like freedom fighting seemed to. She hadn't counted on her father following her. He showed up two weeks later.

Chakotay glanced back at Erin after another long silence. "What's up?"

"I'm sorry you felt like you had to come after me. You'll lose your commission at best." She wasn't sure he'd thought over it. She was his daughter... coming after her was likely impulsive.

"It's not safe out here. You have no idea what you're getting yourself into." He whispered softly.

"Worth a court martial?" She bit back.

"Over a letter and your discovering your tortured dead body? Absolutely."

She chewed on her lip a moment, not breaking eye contact with him. She was 21 years old and still he had to protect her. Why did it make her so angry? She sighed and pushed at the console so it would pivot away, allowing her to rest her elbows on her knees. "Mom's got to be worried."

"About me or you?" He turned sideways in his chair and crossed his leg over his knee, playing with the hem on the bottom of his pants. "Erin, you're our only child-"

"If there were two or three would you be less likely to come after me?" She interrupted harshly.

He ignored it. "If something happened to you, something I could have saved you from, I would never forgive myself." He eased off the chair and to his knees, putting him close enough to reach up and tuck her short hair behind her ear. "You don't know the area, you don't know the enemy, and not the least of it is you have no idea how to kill... how to be angry enough to have no mercy on your enemy... man, woman, child... we even killed pets." He tried to speak softly as the memories of an angry, bitter existence came back. "I joined the Maquis after nearly ten years in Starfleet. I had the benefit of solid training before I got out here and still I was taken captive, beaten, tortured on more than one occasion. You've had two years of Academy... _study_. You can't expect to come out here and be a fighter."

"You don't think I'm able to do this?" She asked, a bit of irritation in her voice.

"I don't want you to be able to." He sat and crossed his legs, leaning slightly into the chair behind him. "I want you to be my sweet, smart, innocent girl. I don't want you to be here... the hatred this takes..." Chakotay trailed off, letting his eyes drift to the forward viewport and the planets hanging before them. The computer was slowly guiding them to where their group of Maquis had based itself. He had named himself Captain of their stolen and refitted Starfleet shuttle and had reported in by comm to an old friend, "T.J.".

"I'm not ten anymore and I need a purpose. A few of my close friends have already come here, the people here need us. Maybe the Maquis aren't as strong as they used to be, but the colonies are still here because of them."

"Sounds like a recruiting speech." He mumbled, still staring out at the stars, picturing her at ten telling him she wasn't five anymore. He sighed heavily and his shoulder's sagged before he eased himself off the floor. "When you have to break the neck of a child in front of his parents we'll talk more." He turned and walked through the small door to the aft section leaving her alone.

Erin watched him go, saw the redness of his face and the tears in his eyes and wondered at the last. Had he really killed children? She couldn't swallow that thought and stood to stretch, hoping the movement would lighten her feelings. He didn't know how angry she already was. The injustice burned like a fire in her chest. She had heard for years about the Bajoran people, the Cardassian occupation, the way everything was swept aside with the Federation charters, the rezoning and resettling of the colonies along the demilitarized zone, and her father's dad, Kolopak. He was killed in a brutal attack by the Cardassians. Had her father forgotten all of it in his years since returning to Starfleet?

She sighed and proceeded to follow him to the aft section. Perhaps food would help.

The men and women in the back were engaged in a lively game of poker. Most of them were human, but there was a Bajoran and two Betazoids among them. Chakotay was sitting with the Bajoran, a man named Zev Barna who had served with Chakotay both in Starfleet and the Maquis. They were going over plans for the next attack on a nearby Cardassian prison camp.

Erin poured two cups of coffee and slid onto the bench next to Barna, passing a cup to Chakotay. "Sorry." She mumbled softly.

He smiled without looking up from the PADD in his hand. "We'll talk about it later."

She nodded and leaned over Barna's shoulder. "When are we doing this?"

He handed her the PADD and sighed. "We're not."

"Wise, old friend." Chakotay muttered

"You shouldn't have come back, you bring out the cautious me." He chuckled, a short laugh and than swiped the PADD back from Erin. "And _you_ young lady, should be engaged in studies, courting young men, or playing a romantic holonovel back on Earth. And... safe with your mother."

Erin rolled her eyes.

"I'm not kidding, if I had a daughter out here, she'd be whooped so hard-"

"She's an adult and can make her own decisions." Chakotay's quiet defense silenced Barna's tirade.

"At any rate, this is no place for the young. You have such a life ahead of you." He eyed her over the PADD he was deleting info from.

"Perhaps I choose to be useful here for my life."

"Short life." He almost taunted.

Erin noticed Chakotay's face had paled some. Likely at thoughts of a brutal ending to his young daughter's life. She forced herself to look away from him. She worshipped her father and the idea of him being even a little disappointed with her decisions was killing her.

Chakotay stood and watched the game at the table beyond them for a few minutes before nodding to Erin. "Let's land her and get a good meal before someone tries cooking up here."

Erin grimaced at yet another night of stale rations prepped by someone with no taste buds at all.

They settled the ship down in their assigned spot, quickly disembarking toward "headquarters".

This particular shoot of Maquis rebels were based on the smallest of planets in the Meteor belt cluster. Years ago Chakotay and T.J. had nicknamed it "Grandma's Plate" after a rousing discussion of young boys roughhousing around fragile possessions. The plate in question had been T.J.'s great great grandmother's. He likened the cluster of brightly shining planets and broken pieces of meteorites to that shattered family heirloom and Chakotay had tormented him about it since. The base was made up of several shacks that were linked by crude hallway-like passages. There were two main entrances, one for the common areas and bunks, and a professional building to discuss plans, first aid care and such. Though there were proper places to meet, the group had fought together so long they rarely talked anywhere but the Mess Hall.

Chakotay and Erin were the last of four groups of fighters to return to base for the week and the last of their team to enter the compound. The Mess Hall was packed with noisy and very hungry people of every race. It amazed Erin to see the age ranges, though the largest age group were of her father's. Gray haired, men and woman, scarred, thin and very serious. A different generation of fighter. She hadn't been to this base yet, having been intercepted during her first assignment by Chakotay and the small ship he had _commandeered_.

"I lived here for quite a few years." He spoke loud enough for her to hear over the noise.

"Do you know many of them?"

Chakotay took her arm and guided her away from a trio of guys bent on mauling each other for the hell of it. "No, while we were still in the Delta Quadrant, we received a letter from a friend of ours telling us most of them-most that we knew well-had been killed in a series of attacks."

"Chakotay!" A shout echoed to them across several tables and Erin saw a human male with long gray hair and a narrow face waving them over.

Chakotay and the man-Erin assumed it was T.J.- embraced tightly before Chakotay made the introductions.

"I'm glad you found her." T.J. spoke gravely. "I had them sending her straight into Cardassian space. If I'd known-"

"Never mind." Chakotay waved him off. "Is it as bad as it looks?"

"It's been a lost cause for a decade or more." T.J. sat and slid his plate to Erin. "The line is long and you look like you could use some food."

"Thanks." She smiled and sat across from him beside Chakotay.

"I plan to take her home, but I imagine she has other ideas." Chakotay eyed Erin who avoided his gaze.

"Good idea. When did you get time to have a family? Weren't you lost? Delta Quadrant? What the hell is with that, man?" He snorted and downed a glass of some sort of alcohol that had been in front of him.

"Long... long story." Chakotay shook his head. "Long story. The family, however, happened since getting back home."

T.J. nodded thoughtfully. "I like stories, you know. There aren't many new ones out here."

"Well, I'm married. One kid..." He tipped his head toward Erin. "As headstrong as her father, if not more so."

"She doesn't look at all like you."

Chakotay smirked. "She's not _exactly_ mine."

T.J. dipped his head to catch Erin's eyes. "But a lot like you in attitude... yeah I can see that pissy young man in her. Where'd you come from than?"

Erin swallowed a bite slowly. "My biological _father_ lived on a planet in the Delta Quadrant. My mother and her crew were taken captive and their minds were slightly altered. She had a brief relationship with him... they never even told me his name." She eyed Chakotay sideways.

"Another very long story." Chakotay added, remembering how resistant Kathryn had been to the idea of being _Voyager's_ captain. He had secretly been terrified that she'd want to stay with _Jaffin_ despite her memories being returned to normal.

T.J. looked truly fascinated. "If we have time, I want more of your Delta Quadrant life."

Chakotay shook his head with a smile. "_If,_ my friend."

"How's B'Elanna? Do you see her?"

"Yes, regularly. We're still very close. She's doing well. Engineering head specialist on new Warp engine designs, Federation ambassador to the Klingons. Married, couple of kids, grandson on the way... It's actually less strange than it sounds."

T.J.'s face had twisted in a mixed expression of confusion and wonder. He shook it off and shrugged. "I am happy to hear it, but it doesn't sound like my Torres."

"People change."

"Have you?" T.J. crossed his arms on the table. "Besides the wife and kid."

"Yes... I'm at peace with things. Most everything at this point. There isn't the turmoil and I'm no longer lost."

T.J.'s eyes reflected something Erin couldn't identify. "I remember the pain and hurt. It's good to hear you've healed from it."

Chakotay simply nodded and patted Erin's shoulder. "We're going to find a place to sleep. It's been a few days."

"Have breakfast with me tomorrow. Tell me more of your peace."

Chakotay grinned and left, Erin trailing behind, deep in thought about her father's other life.

**Ask Me No Questions**

"I don't know, sir." Kathryn had a lump in her throat and a pain in her chest as she leaned into the screen at her little desk. "He _didn't_ tell me."

The Admiral staring back at her was fuming, his face a deep red. "He was supposed to report for assignment three days ago. You can't tell me you don't know where your _husband_ is."

The accusation stung. "My daughter disappeared several weeks ago. No one's been able to find out where she's gone and I assume he's gone after her, but he did-not-tell-me." She clipped off her words angrily back at him.

He was silent as he skimmed a PADD someone off screen had dropped on his desk. "I have things to do. Notify me immediately when you hear from him. And _Admiral_..."

Kathryn noted his volatile use of her rank.

"You have a duty to Starfleet before anyone else."

The screen went black and she felt the threat deeply. She had been honest in every word. Chakotay hadn't told her anything, very likely to protect her from this. She had a good idea though. While speaking as a guest lecturer at the Academy she'd sensed a growing interest in the Maquis from most of Erin's class and several more classes that also met in the same Great Hall. Erin herself had been growing notably restless in her studies, her grades had been dropping and she was spending less time with her childhood friends and more time with some of the more rebellious cadets on campus. It bothered Kathryn, but when Erin went missing she feared the worst. She voiced it to no one except Chakotay who took the idea very seriously.

"If she's headed to join the Maquis... Kathryn, she won't live." Chakotay's voice strained against the anguish of a parent who's child had gone missing.

_Kathryn's hand went to her mouth instantly. "She wouldn't have...?" She was begging him for any other idea. "Chakotay, she _knows_ better..."_

"She's been angry lately, no direction, maybe even depressed... I don't know." He reached for Kathryn's free hand. "Maybe she hasn't, but it was my first thought when Tuvok told us she'd disappeared from Academy Grounds."

"She's been gone for a week. They haven't even figured out how she left... transporter, shuttle, Starfleet vessel or not... She snuck off... she planned this." Kathryn's mind was all over the place and she could feel her chest tighten and her breath becoming shorter. The blood was rushing from her face and hands and the room was tipping around her.

_Chakotay stood and steadied her with both hands on her shoulders. "Look at me!" He shook her gently to get her attention. "Kathryn, we _will _find her."_

"Oh God, please tell me she'll be okay..."

He rested a knee beside her on the chair and held her against him, unable to offer her an honest answer.

He was gone the next morning. A bag and clothes missing from the closet. Empty breakfast dish and mug on the table and a slip of paper with a heart drawn on it. The only message and his last way to protect her and her career from whatever fallout his decision to go after Erin would have.

The door chime sounded, startling her and causing her coffee to spill across the desk. "Damn." She muttered as she pulled her jacket off and mopped the spill from the PADDs and comm console. "Come in!" She called from her small office out into the front room. Her window faced the yard, but she hadn't seen anyone coming up the walk.

"Admiral Janeway?" The voice called from the doorway.

"In my office, Riley."

The boy-man really-who appeared in the doorway was easily as tall as Chakotay, 23 years old with shocking red hair, freckles and bright green eyes. The Irish accent he sported as a child had all but disappeared, showing up only during particular ballads and sonnets of a drunken variety and when he was highly upset. The latter was true now. "Admiral, where is she? Where is Erin?"

Kathryn stared at him before dropping into her chair and pointing to the one across from her.

He shook his head, but stepped quickly down the two steps into the office to lean against the back of it. "Tell me she didn't..."

"I don't know... I don't know _anything._" She felt like she was convincing herself as she studied the man in front of her. "Riley-she's been gone for a month and a half. I-" She stopped talking and swallowed hard.

Riley sat, his already ashen face even more so. "She didn't say a word to me." He sounded hurt and he settled his hands on the desk, holding the edge as if to steady himself. "She's avoided me for months. I assumed her Academy friends were more interesting and she was starting a new life there."

Riley and Erin had become fast friends when his family moved to the neighborhood. They were 9 and 7 at the time, just over a year between them, though she was always worlds shorter than he. He had been the quiet, shy kid on the block and Erin, ever the friendliest of children quickly ushered him into her circle, dragging the tradionalist child along on every stargazing trip, every venture out to Vulcan to see Tuvok, every detour through Mars colony where Kathryn taught them to swim. Anything that would get them access to the universe, she would take him along.

Now, an old fashioned young man, raising animals on his family farm and studying medicine in his spare time over long nights was sitting in Kathryn's simple, but very modern office, asking where his childhood best friend had gone.

She couldn't give him an answer. "She's been different here, too." She tried to ease his mind. "She doesn't come home for dinner and she's been skipping classes... it's not you."

"That should've helped, huh?" The color had returned some, obviously relieved to know she didn't just dump her best friend, but he was still gripping the desk.

"Some of the guys on the tennis court mentioned she may have gone to the Bajoran homeworld." He was digging now.

"It's been one theory. Her father disappeared a few weeks ago, I assume he has an idea where she is. I haven't heard from either of them."

Riley pushed his own worries aside and really looked at Kathryn for the first time since he came in. "You look sick."

"Wouldn't you be?" She asked dryly.

"I am." He whispered. "Erin and I had started to get... closer. Until a few months ago I had been thinking about asking her out. Than she was suddenly distant, uninterested in spending any time together. If that's where she went-"

"She didn't want to hurt you...or us." Kathryn whispered, now certain of where she'd gone.

"I hear the Maquis aren't in good shape."

"You hear a lot for a sheltered tradionalist boy." Kathryn chuckled slightly, thinking of the many fights she'd had with his parents to take him on trips or off world at all.

He smiled. "Hanging around _that Janeway kid_ has always given me the bigger picture despite being so sheltered."

She laughed a little more deliberately and shook her head. "I have to get to Headquarters... I'm already late, but I promise I'll keep you updated."

He stood and sighed. "Admiral, if you hear anything... please tell her I want her to come home... I wanted to take her to Italy..."

"She's always wanted to see Italy." Kathryn smiled painfully. "We never made the time... and it was so simple a request."

He nodded. "Please tell her."

"I will."


	2. Part Two

**Under Orders**

"You and your people will hit this target. It's heavily armed, but our surveillance has revealed tactical weaknesses. If you can get in... here and here... within the first few shots, it's yours. My ground team will be waiting, as soon as those shields go down we'll be in. Transport yours inside and lay down cover fire for us." T.J. was indicating two points with his forefinger and pinky against a crude sketch of the Prison Camp.

Chakotay shook his head slowly. "Barna and I were going over it-"

"Can't do it." Barna cut in angrily. "Teej, we hit those points and a shit storm of Cardassian cruisers will be on us before we're inside. They're rigged to send out distress signals automatically."

Chakotay had fallen silent, watching the Bajoran push T.J.'s finger's off the paper.

"Look, we're not leaving them in there."

"So let's sacrifice another twenty or thirty of us trying to get them out?" Barna angrily stabbed at different points on the sketch. "Once we break the perimeter a hundred armed pigs will come out through these barracks... us and the people we have held there will be killed on sight."

T.J. stared at the sketch. "The surveillance team didn't see-"

"Surveillance teams can be in error." Chakotay muttered, uncrossing his arms and pulling the sheet close. He leaned with a hand on either side of the table and stared hard at the massive camp in front of him. "I agree, they can't be left there. How many of our people are we talking about?"

"Thirty for sure... they're ours. But there are possibly as many as seventy more than that. Women and children too. Bajoran families." T.J. responded.

"That's no small number for us to rescue _after_ tripping a distress signal. Can we dampen the relay? Somehow stall it from sending out?"

"That still leaves the hundred Cardassians." Barna growled in Chakotay's face.

Chakotay firmly pushed Barna back with his hand against the old man's chest. "Easy. I've been out of this for a long time."

Barna slouched back on a stool and watched as Chakotay eyed T.J. "I've been in these compounds, so have you. If they're still alive it's a miracle. If we're taken as well..."

"Should we write them off and assume they're dead? Should we leave them to their torturers? Is that the _Starfleet way_, Chakotay?"

Chakotay dropped his gaze back to the sheet. "No... they've never left me behind..."

"It's no different here and you know that. I won't abandon my men to be beat with iron rods and the women to be raped by those pigs." T.J.'s voice was oddly hushed as he finished.

Chakotay turned his head to see Erin in the doorway.

"I'm going with you."

He looked back to T.J., pain and desperation in his face.

"You've committed to this, you'll have to square with it on your own, old friend." His response was equally pained as he shook his head. "I'm giving you orders to lead that team in orbit."

"Yes, sir."

The others left the small room as Chakotay remained fixed against the table, his grip tight on the edges, sweat beginning to drip onto the sketch beneath him.

"Daddy?" Her voice cracked and she cleared her throat, moving closer. "I _chose_ to be here, you didn't."

"I chose as much as you did. My choice, however, was coerced." He didn't look up.

"I'm sorry about so much of this, but I'm not ready to walk away. That wouldn't be right."

He slammed his fist down on the center of the table and looked up angrily. "Wouldn't be right, Erin? You had no problem walking away from your duties and assignments at the Academy! Was it right to walk away from you friends and family and your home?" He leaned in near her. "Was it right to make your mother so sick worrying about you that she's not sleeping or eating? Was it right to make us so terrified for you that I've come out here to get you?"

She had stepped back slightly and stared at him. Only a handful of times in her life had she ever remembered him being mad, and now he was seething. "_You_ said I'm an adult and can make my own decisions. Everyone has to respect that except for you?" She was whispering. When did she start challenging her parents or any authority for that matter?

Chakotay collapsed onto the stool Barna had been perched on. "Please come home."

He sounded weak to her. Tired and even old. She wanted to reassure him, but she was still mad. How could he expect others to respect her if he didn't? "Mom will be okay..." She started, softening her voice as much as she could. "I hope to come home, but if I don't... Daddy, this is something that's important to me. Nothing has been before now. Everything has been routine, expectations of me that I've filled almost too well. I see so much more, there's so much suffering outside our perfect little united world and no one seems to care."

Chakotay rested his hands on his lap and stared up at her. "I used to feel that way. I still feel there is too many who suffer, but if everyone runs off to fight their own wars who will be left to continue a peaceful world? How will peace continue if everyone is fighting one crusade or another?" He reached for her hands.

She reluctantly pulled them from her pockets and let him grasp them, instinctively tightening hers when he did.

"The things I said on the ship? Erin, can you kill a child? Can you raid a home, take their food and weapons, kill the family in their sleep?"

She was silent.

"I know on this side of the border it's hard to picture the Cardassians in their homes and with their babies, but just beyond prison camp raids is the old Bajoran colonies... just past the evil that happens in the camps there are Cardassians, who admittedly have no right to be in those homes on those worlds... with their _families_. But are you ready to march in on them because another wants the house back? Their home from ten, twenty, even thirty years ago? It wasn't right, it will have never been right, but is this any less wrong?"

"It's time." T.J. was standing in the doorway. "I need you, Chakotay."

Chakotay continued to stare at Erin, holding his breath for a response from her.

"I _have_ to stay." She wriggled her hands free from his and moved past T.J. to be as far from her father's hurt gaze as possible.

The tiny form squirmed in his open hands, the blanket loosening as she moved. Her fists clenched and unclenched and she let out a wail. His hands trembled beneath her as he pulled her nearer, terrified he'd drop her. His tears dripped down onto the blanket as he whispered softly. "Hello, Erin. I'm going to be your daddy."

The cries quieted at his voice and he looked up to see the Doctor and Kathryn watching him. She was sitting on the biobed, the Doctor was holding a medical tricorder, but had finished whatever scans he'd started.

"She's beautiful." He grinned at Kathryn.

Kathryn nodded slowly, the color already coming back to her face.

Chakotay eased onto the bed beside her and passed the bundle to her. "Thank you... for letting me be here."

"You're her father, you should be here." The response was gentle and honest.

_Chakotay touched her tiny hand and her fingers wrapped around his in an instinctively tight grip. The warmth radiated from her hand and he smiled at the baby. _His_ baby..._

"I'm sorry." T.J. whispered. "I am glad you're with me, though." He clapped his hand on Chakotay's back as he trudged past.

"I'm warning you, _old friend_, she's my priority. If I have to save her, even sacrificing the team to do it... I will."

T.J. stopped walking. "I don't think you could."

Chakotay turned slowly, closer to T.J. than he realized. "She's my _baby_. I won't lose her."

He sighed and put his hands on Chakotay's back, guiding him out to where the team was waiting. "They're all yours."

Chakotay felt a rush of memories as the two dozen faces staring at him quieted, waiting for their team leader to speak, to order them on some fool's errand in the name of freedom. He cleared his throat and stepped to center himself among the group. "You all know the goal here, we're getting our people out of that death camp. We'll board the ship, heading straight for the Pinnaire system. When we're in range of their sensors we'll drop out of Warp and proceed on a direct course for our target. We're only going to get off a few shots before they're defense net is activated and once we drop their shields we'll be exposed. We're going to try and dampen the distress signal that will emit when we hit those targets, but if it doesn't work we have to be ready to move. Two will remain on board." He pointed to two standing to his right. "Can you two pilot the ships?"

The man and woman he indicated both nodded firmly.

"You'll remain on board while the rest of us beam directly into the camp. We'll be positioning ourselves between T.J.'s team and the Cardassians. Estimated to be-"

"A hundred!" Barna barked, having to have his uneducated guess count for something by anyone.

Chakotay smirked without breaking eye contact with the team. "At least a hundred. We'll begin to fire immediately, giving the other team cover as they get to the prison block."

Erin watched her father's confidence grow as he expertly ordered the men onto the ship. Perhaps it was his Starfleet years, he started back as First Officer on _Voyager_ and has since only commanded ships. She thought there was something else. Something natural about the way he was sending them to their deaths. "Dad...?" She whispered as he let his shoulders slump behind the backs of the team gearing up and boarding the ships.

"Erin...? He returned the tone and looked at her sadly.

"This really is a death errand, isn't it?"

He squeezed her shoulder. "Perhaps the best way to test how committed you are to the cause is to face death or torture head on."

"Have you prepared a message for mom... in case it's that bad?"

He smiled. "You know me pretty well."

"I've had 21 years to peg you, Daddy."

"I _do not_ want you here." His hand tightened it's grip and she winced slightly under his strength.

"I'm not backing off."

He sighed and hugged her against him for a long moment. "Okay, then. The team runs as Maquis. They have orders, they can deviate to save a life, even their own. There isn't a lot of structure or expectation. You, Ms. Janeway, better heed every last one of my orders."

She sensed a dire warning stressed in his voice and a plea to obey him this one moment. "Aye, Sir."

He dropped his arm and reached a hand to T.J. "You want me back to send me to my end, ey?"

T.J. shook his hand in return and smiled. "I told you I need you. I have vital people in there. If we're to fail this time..."

"We may very well fail." Chakotay offered grimly. "Good luck."

"May the prophets guide you." T.J. mumbled the familiar Bajoran prayer to Chakotay and broke off to his own ship.

"Let's go." He tried to sound steady as he walked quickly to the ship, leading his daughter off to war.

**An Unwelcome Confrontation**

Kathryn headed straight for her office. She didn't need the questions everyone throughout Starfleet Command had. She didn't want to be asked by a dozen people if they'd found Erin yet or where Chakotay had disappeared to. She needed to get to her desk, lock her door and get her work done as quickly as possible. She was nearly to the massive old door when a voice stopped her.

"Admiral Janeway...?"

She spun around to see Commander Barclay standing in the hallway. "Hello, Reg."

"Have you heard anything from her?"

She shook her head and beckoned him in behind her, locking them in with a quick command to the computer.

Reg stared at her, looking somewhat perplexed.

"It feels as though I need to hide from all of Starfleet." She waved his concern off and went to the replicator. "Coffee. Black." She turned to Reg, inquiring with an eyebrow.

"Nothing, thanks." He seated himself near the floor to ceiling window that faced a series of gleaming Headquarters buildings. "You have the _worst_ view in Starfleet."

"It was my father's office." She mumbled. "I hated being stuck in here as a kid and now it's my favorite place to work." She settled into a chair across from him and pulled her knees up, resting her mug atop them and watching him through the steam.

"My students have been... theorizing about where she's gone." Reg started quietly.

"Yeah, a few of them live in my neighborhood and have been spreading such theories about the tennis courts." She finished dryly.

"If it's the case, she won't be accepted back into the Academy."

"That's awful presumptuous, Reg. They've taken people back for worse."

"They haven't been though. Even well written and highly thought of sponsoring of cadets haven't changed the board's mind on most reentrants. I will be happy to submit my own, but it will be challenged. She didn't submit a formal resignation which caused her official absences... to start."

"With all due respect, Mr. Barclay, I can't be worried about this right now. I just want her home."

"I'm trying to tell you, Starfleet is already deciding where she's been and what the consequences will be."

The silence hung between them for a long time before Kathryn inhaled slowly and let it out. "They have no right to."

"I tried to stand up for her, but it's hard. I'm all but certain that's where she is as are the rest of the Academy Board."

A knock on the door startled them both.

Kathryn sat quiet through three more rounds of knocking before a voice came through.

"Admiral Janeway, I know you're there. You need to address this situation."

She slid her booted feet off the chair and they loudly thumped on the floor. She stood, coffee cup still in hand, and made her way to the door. A pass of her hand over the manual control unlocked it revealing two angry looking Admirals.

"The stolen shuttle we told you of early in the week? It's been seen by surveillance from DS9. It's been fitted with markings of the Maquis and we presume it's being flown by Captain Chakotay."

"Why would he be flying a stolen shuttle with Maquis markings?" She countered as the Admiral who hadn't spoke a word thrust a PADD into her free hand.

They let themselves in past her and she stood staring down at the PADD. The data image recorded showed the shuttle, registry markings gleaming clearly from the side.

Reg silently excused himself, squeezing her shoulder gently as he slipped out.

"Well?" The first Admiral prompted loudly.

She turned to see they were seated where Reg had been. She moved to the long desk farther away from them and seated herself, transferring the image to her desk console. "Computer, enhance shuttle forward screen, zoom in 300 percent."

"We tried, there's no showing who is flying the shuttle."

They all looked up at Admiral Paris' voice.

Kathryn set the coffee mug and PADD down and motioned for him to sit at the desk. "I assume you'll speak to me in a respectful manner." She muttered unnecessarily.

Both Admirals on the couch stirred, but remained silent. Paris' seniority was felt in most areas of Starfleet and respected by nearly everyone.

His eyes sparkled a bit at her irritation and he leaned into the desk. "We're unable to tell if the pilot is Chakotay, but whomever is piloting it eluded a Cardassian in much the same way he would. The shuttle went missing the same morning he did. Kathryn, he could be in a lot of trouble.

"Owen, I know less about where he might be than you do, I'm sure."

"We all assume he's gone after your daughter, but to what end?" The second Admiral was speaking, softer now, but with a measured tone.

She shook her head and stood. Neither man sitting on her couch outranked her in time. She'd been on assignments over the previous twenty years that would turn them gray in a heartbeat. Still, most of Command was hounding her for information she could only guess at. "I don't know where he is. There are rumors, everyone has been hearing them, that my daughter has gone off to join the Maquis. If it's true... she won't live through it. Chakotay was certain of that much."

Admiral Paris leaned back to follow her unsteady pacing. "If he assumed she went to the Bajoran system and the Cardassian border, it's reasonable to assume he's had to join them to track her down."

Kathryn nodded slowly. "Sir, you know better than anyone what can happen in those camps. Wouldn't you do anything to rescue your child from that fate?"

Paris swallowed hard. The memory was fast approaching forty years old, but the wounds still plagued his nightmares.

"The question than is not if he's gone there, but what will become of him when he returns home from the crimes one must commit when warring in Federation space... and shirking responsibility and duty." The first Admiral stood as he spoke. "Janeway, your husband will likely live the rest of his life in prison."

Kathryn stared at their backs as they left the room without another word.

"Let us hope he didn't have to join them." Admiral Paris whispered.


	3. Part Three

**Return of the Fighter **

Chakotay stood silently behind the pilot of the small ship heading up the attack from space. The pilot was a young Klingon with much the same fierce dedication B'Elanna had when he met her. He grasped the back of the chair and leaned down to the young man's ear. "Ease up, you'll pull something."

The Klingon growled an acknowledgement and visibly shook the straining muscles in his shoulders loose.

Chakotay tapped a closed fist on his shoulder and stepped back to where Erin was analyzing the relay beacon. "Any weakness?"

"I'm not an engineer, Dad." She muttered and rubbed her eyes.

He smirked. "No, you were on a fast track to science." He leaned over her shoulder and touched a corner of the display. "See this node? We have to hit it squarely here or they'll have reinforcements in there before we can get in ourselves."

"What do you want me to do?"

He swallowed. "Fire a steady stream at this point. Count five and get away from the console."

She looked at him with some confusion.

"Exactly five." He stood back and called up the internal comm. "Attention all hands, we're two minutes out from beam down. Final preparations for infiltration. You have your assignments." The computer toggled the comm off and silence filled the ship. He sat beside the pilot and nodded.

The Klingon keyed controls quickly, sending them into a spiral as they entered sensor range of the camp.

"Erin, lock onto that node and be ready on my order." A chilling moment passed and he turned to her. "Now."

Her fingers responded immediately to his word and a steady pulse shot out, hitting the relay node dead on.

Chakotay watched her lips move to five and he held his breath.

Erin leapt from the chair as her console exploded into flames at the feedback pulse designed to protect the relay. She scrambled to get behind his chair and away from the shower of sparks the exploding wires were pouring onto her as Chakotay issued beam down coordinates.

"Chakotay to Vajan." The other ship answered quickly. "We have no way to fire on the shields, get them down. You have two, maybe three shots."

"Got it!" The Betazoid woman snapped back.

They watched the second ship in the team dip around their own and head straight for the atmosphere, firing as their shields reached a maximum pressure point and than veering off.

"We've transported everyone here down, Chakotay."

"Stay in communication range as long as possible. We'll need both ships to get the prisoners out." Chakotay stood and raced to the aft section where one fighter still stood. "Stay here, beam up the prisoners as soon as I contact you. We won't have time to screw this one up."

The man nodded and stood rigidly next to the control.

Erin stepped onto the transporter pad next to him and the ship washed away in brilliant blue, replaced with the dull gray of solid metal walls. She stared in each direction down three corridors before looking at her father.

He was gasping slightly for the adrenaline and sighed when his breath finally caught. "This way. Stay _very_ close."

She pulled her phaser rifle from the tight leather holster that ran down her leg. A clumsily large weapon, but certainly effective. "Daddy..."

He paused at the fright he thought he heard in her voice and looked down at her.

"If we don't... I just want you to know I'm glad you came after me. I'm sorry, but I'm glad I'm not alone." She felt hot tears drip and wiped them away angrily.

"I love you, Erin." He whispered and than motioned for her to move quickly as he started off again.

They made their way down several short corridors before the sound of phaser fire reached them. He got low and crept to the next bend. T.J. was just in view, holding his men back while some of Chakotay's took on the heavily armed guard advancing their way.

T.J. made eye contact with Chakotay and shook his head. "We're not getting through!" He shouted across.

Chakotay rested his rifle against the wall and glanced behind him at his suddenly very young daughter.

_"Daddy! Daddy, you _have_ to see this!" _

He eased himself off the chair and rounded the corner to see four year old Erin playing happily with a stack of her mother's PADDs.

_"Hi." She smiled up at him, her cookie crumb covered face revealing how badly he'd been at _watching _her. _

"Mamma isn't going to like this."

"It's otay." Her slight misspoken words earning almost instant forgiveness. "I as-ted her if I can play here."

He got down and stacked the last of the PADDs for her. "Maybe it'll be our secret today, hmm?"

She smiled wide. "Love you, Daddy."

Chakotay braced his shoulder against the wall, swallowing the pain in his chest at the memory of his little girl. _His_ girl. It didn't matter what her DNA said. He'd been there since she was born. He was there _when_ she was born. He was the first to hold her as her tiny body shook at her newborn cries. She was his baby and always would be. He began firing at the line of Cardassians, expertly dropping ten of them before nodding to T.J.

T.J. instantly responded in total trust, running through the cover fire toward the cell block controls, his team rushing past him and down the corridors to begin the beam out procedures.

"Vajan to Chakotay. Man, we have a problem up here."

"Go ahead." He grunted, continuing the barrage against the Cardassians, now beginning to barricade themselves behind falling bulkheads.

"They've got a back up on that relay. It went off about... thirty seconds ago. We've got less than five minutes before they start coming in on us."

"Come in as close as you can. T.J. is dropping the energy barriers in the cell block now. Beam up anyone you can get a lock on." He cut the communication and turned his head slightly to shout back at Erin, who was frozen behind him. "Do exactly what I say. When I tell you to go, move straight past T.J. and down the left most corridor. Beam out with that group, they'll be on board first and you'll be safe."

"Daddy..." Erin started to protest.

"Go!" He didn't let her finish as he shoved her forward with a hand and started firing again.

She was in the open and had no choice but to move forward as he'd instructed.

"Janeway!" T.J. was behind her in a moment slapping a transport signal on her and moving her down the corridor. "Go home." He growled harshly.

Suddenly she was back on the ship. She lost her footing as the pilot maneuvered around several volleys of phaser fire and than they jumped to warp.

Chakotay shrank back from an advance of Cardassian fire. Breathing deeply he shot blindly around the corner and shook his head when he saw T.J.

T.J. took the chance anyway and raced toward him, shooting over his shoulder and leaping over bodies of both Cardassians and fallen Maquis. Five others followed behind and they made their way around multiple corridors before stopping to rest.

The small group was silent, listening for any following footfalls.

Chakotay finally spoke. "Tell me you got her out."

T.J. nodded and swallowed. "She's safe. Went out a full three groups before we lost the fourth. They cut our transporter. I have no idea if they materialized again or not."

Chakotay let his head fall back on the bulkhead behind him. "Did we get a detailed enough schematic to find any other escape?"

"Fool's errand." T.J. responded quietly. "Nothing else. It was a crude map."

Chakotay nodded and eased himself up. "Let's give 'em hell and try, ey?"

"Old times?" T.J. smiled back and took Chakotay's outstretched hand, pulling himself to equal height. "Damn, I've missed having you in my arsenal."

**Communiqué**

Kathryn's head buzzed at the sound of the console going off in the other room. She rolled over and checked the time. It was, as she suspected, the dead middle of the night. She eased out of bed and pulled on her old robe before heading for the office. The tiny indicator light was blinding in the dark room and her smallest toe found two chair legs before making it to the desk. "Computer, lights, 30%." She keyed the console on to see Erin's tear stained face on the screen.

"Mama... I don't know what I can say on here... we've got a two way communication, but it's not very secure."

Kathryn couldn't get a word out, but simply touched the screen where her daughter's face was.

"Daddy may have been captured by the Cardassians. He and... a friend. They beamed me out and the pilot of the ship we were in took off." She choked on a sob and dropped her head as her mother interrupted.

"Sssh. Slow down." She swallowed the fear inside and took a steadying breath. "Come home, Erin."

"Daddy came after me... I can't leave without him."

Tears spilled from Kathryn's eyes. "If the Cardassians have him he's-"

"No!" Erin whispered harshly. "He's not dead... he's stronger than that."

"They're vicious, Erin." Kathryn's voice cracked. "Baby, please come home before I lose you both."

Erin wiped at her face with her hand and shook her head firmly. "I can't, Mom."

Kathryn fell silent staring at her stubborn daughter.

"If there's a chance at all... I have to help. He's sacrificed everything to come get me."

Kathryn nodded. "You've always adored him..." More tears fell and she wiped her eyes with a finger "God, baby... please be safe."

Erin started crying again. "I miss you, Mama. So very much. And I'm sorry I left home." She turned off the console without another word.

Kathryn's head fell to the desk, resting on her arms. As she sobbed quietly a second flash of light indicated a message, originating from the same region was coming through. She looked up and keyed it hesitantly.

"Hello." Chakotay's face was tired looking, but he was working at a smile as he fixed his eyes on the screen... on her. "It's odd, recording a goodbye message before I've even come into any danger." His chuckle was almost real. "I've recorded this in case something happens. It's with my things, so anyone who clears my belongings out will find it... I've probably told Erin about it, so perhaps she's sent it... or better yet she brought it home to you. I hope we get out of this, but it's doubtful. She refuses to come home and I won't leave without her. She'll die out here, Kathryn. I can't let that happen. I can't tell you what we're doing, but you can find out what happened through DS9. They usually have all the dirt on us." He paused and studied his hands. "_Us._ I hadn't ever wanted to come back to the Maquis and it terrifies me how quickly it's felt like home again. I've seen some old friends... they've really looked out for Erin. Even tried to convince her to go home." He sighed and rubbed his neck before leaning closer in. "I want nothing more than to be home again, to be able to hold you at night, to sit down to dinner with my wife and my daughter. I have one last bottle off of _Voyager_. If it turns out I'm gone I want you to drink it. Like old times... maybe even on _Voyager_ if they don't screen you at the museum. I love you more than anything and I'm sorry I couldn't bring her home to you. I only hope she's found her way. This will pass, you know... I've missed you these weeks, horribly, and you'll miss me for much longer, but you _will_ be okay again. Take care of yourself, my sweet Kathryn."

The image faded and Kathryn let out a pained cry in the dark, lonely house.


	4. Part Four

**Chained**

Clicking. Tapping. Dripping. _Dripping_. Chakotay tried to identify the sound. _Definitely dripping._ His eye lids strained against the heaviness plaguing them, but he couldn't open them. He eased his attempt and lay quiet, trying to hear further. _Shuffling_. "Teej?" He managed, mutilating the attempt at both letters.

"I'm here." The response was pained.

"What-?" He inhaled as the words caught in a tornado of anguish. "Damn." He whispered instead.

"You've been out more than a day." T.J.'s voice was less strained and it got a bit closer. "I'm in the next cell."

"Tell me what happened." Chakotay got it out in a rush before gripping the edges of the metal bunk he was on.

"We walked right out into a group of them. They were on us in seconds. A big one took you down with his fist. I thought he drove your face into your brain, but thankfully it wasn't that bad. They killed two of our people, I haven't seen the other three. They've tortured us, you haven't woken through it."

Chakotay groaned, this time turning his head and opening his eyes.

"We've been in worse, right?"

"Sure." He smirked slightly and let his eyes adjust enough to make out the edge of the cell and the bars where T.J. was leaning. His left eye was bleeding badly and the skin of his arms were burned. "Have they just brought you back than?"

T.J. nodded. "They think I wanted more than the prisoners. They're not taking anything I tell them for truth."

"You've never been good at withstanding torture. They'll kill you if they're not happy." Chakotay leaned to his right until his weight carried him over the edge of the bunk and onto the floor. He eased himself to sit and gasped at the pain.

T.J. winced watching him. He wiped at the blood on his face and leaned sideways so his arm slid through the bars. He reached toward Chakotay.

Chakotay stretched to the side and grasped his friend's hand.

"Think they got us this time." He tightened his grip.

"Looks like." Chakotay answered, a weak hold in return.

The grass felt wonderful beneath his feet. It'd been some time since he'd walked barefoot across a grassy field. He closed his eyes and tipped his head up to the sky, a breeze catching his loose tunic, causing it to billow around him. He hadn't even wanted to transport in uniform and he forgot where along the path he'd abandoned the boots. He opened his eyes and let them adjust to the bright sun again, panning the hillside as they did. There was the small child he was searching for, beside a little house, squatting in a bright pink dress with yellow flowers.

She waved to him and ran down the hill, her tiny feet barely catching her for the momentum she was gaining.

He lifted her easily when she reached him.

"Hi, Daddy." Her two year old pudgy arms wound themselves tight around his neck.

"Missed you, my sweet Erin." He whispered into her hair and held her tight against him.

He looked up again to see Kathryn had come out from the house, wearing the Admiral's uniform she was still hardly comfortable in. They met in the middle and she smiled up at him.

"You've been away for some time."

"I'm sorry... it was out of my-"

"Ssh..." She silenced him with a finger to his lips, replacing it with a soft kiss. "I know, I'm at fault for the delay." She frowned slightly.

He sighed. "I wanted to be here for her birthday..."

Kathryn shook her head. "I can't get you home when she needs you and... well, unless you take a leave you'll be out again for several more months."

He could feel tears in his eyes. "If you two were to come with me sometimes..."

Kathryn smiled slightly. "Only immediate family can join you now, you know that."

"If I were to formally adopt her... If we got..."

Kathryn's breath caught.

He paused and watched her. She'd been avoiding his pleas to make them a real family and share a home together since Erin's birth. He knew she was afraid of losing another lover. "Please..."

She studied the now sleeping toddler against her former commander's strong shoulders. "You know I love you..."

"Let go, Kathryn... trust me. Be with me." He gasped the last at her consenting smile...

A click and creaking jarred Chakotay from that sweet memory of the very beginnings of his family. He rubbed his eyes and tried desperately to focus. The pain and fear of never seeing his wife and daughter again striking him like a dagger to the side. He could barely make out a tall, square shouldered Cardassian in the dimly lit cell. The man seemed to be studying Chakotay, trying to make sense of him.

"What do you want?" Chakotay managed.

"To know why you were here."

"We were freeing the men, women and _children_ you were holding and torturing." He bit back angrily.

"Like you don't mistreat _our_ men, women and children?"

Chakotay clenched his teeth forcibly, trying to avoid a lie of a retort.

"I see." The Cardassian muttered, reaching into his belt for what looked to Chakotay like a barbed wire strip. "We shall discover if that is all. Your friend didn't withstand this part."

Chakotay rolled away from the Cardassian as the strip snapped at him, striking him in the back of the neck. He let out a cry of pain and grabbed the bars at the backside of the cell. Pressing his face against them, hoping the pressure and cool metal would give him some distraction as the barbs dug into his back, arms and head with each easy flick of the Cardassian's wrist.

The pain was unbearable and Chakotay's chest tightened with every blow. He could feel darkness creeping through his mind as he slowly lost hold of the last bit of consciousness.

His eyes flicked open. The blinding light that hit him burned as much as the wounds covering the back of his body. He blinked a few times before turning his head to see where he was. A medical bay of some sort. It seemed strange to him to be treated by the doctors here. He pushed himself up on one elbow and held his hand against his eyes as a wave of dizziness hit him.

"Easy, Captain."

The voice was clear, seasoned, perhaps older and male... and calling him by rank. _Rank_.

"Where am I?" His voice was hoarse and the words were garbled. After likely hours of torture he was surprised he could speak at all.

"Aboard Deep Space 9, Sir."

He fought the pain of the light and the queasy feeling the dizziness gave him as he opened his eyes again, squinting hard to focus.

"Captain, you really should _lie_ back down." The doctor before him was in Starfleet Medical blues and his gray hair and slightly wrinkled features gave his words some power.

Chakotay leaned back slowly until his head found the slight rise of the biobed where it'd be most comfortable. "Where's my-"

"Safe. She contacted us regarding your capture. And I must say sir, she had quite a bit of a confession that went with it."

"Is Sisko still in command here?" Chakotay searched his memory for a mention of him here or on earth, but he couldn't find any.

"No, Sir, he was reassigned some years ago." The doctor pressed a hypo spray against his neck. "Commander Kira is in charge these days. She's still a liaison to the Bajoran home world, but she's a full fledged Starfleet officer."

The doctor rambled on for a bit and Chakotay fought to stay conscious. "Bashir, right?" He interrupted quietly.

Doctor Bashir paused. "Yes, I'm surprised you remember."

Chakotay smirked. "I don't. I'm married to a Starfleet admiral. She gets quite a few reports on the wormhole and this region."

"Ah, no doubt with the perpetual threat of the Dominion." Bashir nodded thoughtfully. "Well, at any rate, I was saying your daughter is here and safe and I believe she has contacted Starfleet Command directly. I was told to make you ready to fly, though it's against my better judgment. I suppose you'll be fine."

"Could you get her?"

"I've been here." Erin's voice was barely above a whisper.

Chakotay turned his head to the other side of the biobed to see Erin slouched in exhaustion on a stool in the shadows. "Hey." He smiled and motioned her over.

She shook her head.

"Erin..." He whispered. "This... _this_ is not your fault."

She was crying softly, more with each word. "You'd still be on earth if it weren't for me, so tell me how it's not my fault."

He let his hand fall to the side of the bed, dangling at an odd angle and fast growing numb, but he barely noticed. "There's nothing you could have done to keep me from following you. _That_ was my choice."

She scooted off the stool and came over to stand beside his bed, taking his hand and squeezing it between both of hers. "When they found you-when the Starfleet officers found you, you were clinically dead. Your heart had failed and you hadn't been breathing for several minutes. They beamed you on board a tiny runabout and Doctor Bashir was able to stabilize you. I was waiting here when they got back to DS9... Daddy, I thought you were dead. I thought mom was right and there was no chance if the Cardassians had gotten to you..."

His smile was pained as he imagined the remainder of his torturer's beating that blissful unconsciousness had saved him from feeling. He brushed the thoughts aside. "Mom knows we're okay?"

"No." She shook her head. "I called her after you were taken in the prison camp, she probably thinks we're both dead."

"Than it'll be twice as surprising when we get home." Chakotay attempted the positive, but sighed as soon as it was out. "Let's go home now, okay?"

Erin nodded slowly. "I'm sorry I didn't listen. You did know what you were talking about. I saw a lot of hatred in the Maquis crew as they were firing on the Cardassians. Maybe they need to feel that, but it just made me feel sick to try."

"I needed to know, once. Perhaps so did you, but I'm glad you don't want to stay. The pain and torment I put myself through for years with them isn't something you need to face. You have a family who loves you, friends who care about you, a career that can one day put you back here if you need that... in the right way."

She nodded and cleared her throat. "He didn't make it, Daddy. He was gone for a while when the found you."

Chakotay closed his eyes. The Cardassian's words indeed had sounded final. "_Your friend didn't withstand this part."_

**Home**

Kathryn sat with her coffee clutched tight between her cold fingers. The rain was relaxing, or would have been under different circumstances. She leaned forward and rested the cup on the porch rail, letting her head fall into her hands as she let it go. She hadn't heard from Erin again. It'd been a few days at least since the late night call. Four months since she'd seen her daughter.

"Anything?"

Kathryn shook her head, but didn't lift it. Riley had come by several times a day to see her, to ask about Erin and Chakotay, to bring coffee or chocolate. Today he stopped on the bottom step, the light rain dripping down his freckled face. When she realized he hadn't continued, she looked up.

Riley's eyes were fixed off into the distance, toward five people coming their way. He swallowed hard and turned to her to speak.

She silenced him before his mouth was open. Standing she leaned against the banister. Two were definitely in full Admirals dress uniforms, the other three were wearing darker clothes, she couldn't make them out. "Riley, come inside. If they want to talk to us, they can bang on the door for a while."

"They've been harassing you still?" He followed her inside.

She latched the door shut and went through the foyer into the main room. Bookshelves lined the walls and a few overstuffed chairs were near the windows. An old wood burning stove, Chakotay's addition to the room, stood centered below wall of windows, adding extra warmth to the room. Pictures of Erin as a child were scattered about the shelves, in and around collections of old printed books. A few older pictures were gathered together on an end table, all of them of _Voyager's _crew.

Kathryn settled herself in one of the chairs, fighting the urge to watch the approaching band of officers through the rain speckled window.

"Admiral." Riley started quietly. He was still standing in the foyer, staring past her out the window. "It's Erin and the Captain."

Kathryn turned to see the three others were Tuvok, and indeed Erin and Chakotay. They were moving slowly, Chakotay's arm was over Tuvok's shoulder and he appeared to be limping. Erin was talking to Admiral Paris as they slowly walked. She didn't recognize the second Admiral, but they were all drenched. "Riley, go make some coffee." Her voice was hollow at the command as she leaned forward, eyes fixed out the window.

He nodded and hurried to the kitchen.

She stood, unsteadily and gripped the back of her chair tight before moving as quick as she dared to the door. She flung it open as they reached the steps.

Erin was in her arms before she could step out the door. "So sorry, Mama." She whispered against her shoulder.

"It's okay." Kathryn mumbled back, barely aware of the words or the world around her.

Chakotay watched for a long moment before Kathryn reached for him past Erin.

Tuvok gingerly released Chakotay who nearly fell forward toward them.

"Why didn't you transport over?" She laughed softly around a kiss.

"Erin wanted to walk home." He eyed his daughter and added a smirk to it after a moment.

"The rain sounded like a good way to... erase some things." She slipped out from her parent's arms and slipped into the living room.

Tuvok returned to Chakotay's side to help Kathryn get him into a comfortable chair.

Kathryn opened her mouth, but Chakotay stopped her with a squeeze on her arm.

"There's time to talk about it later. I'm just very glad we're home." He looked up at Tuvok as he was nodding a thank you to Riley who'd handed him a cup of tea. Quite familiar with the family's visitors after years of virtually living with them.

The Admiral Kathryn hadn't recognized cleared his throat and she realized he was still standing. "Sir, please sit."

He shook his head. "Thank you, no. I'm only here, sadly, to inform you that until further notice, Captain Chakotay is to remain here, under observation."

Paris leaned over to Kathryn and muttered. "It'll be a slap on the wrist for the stolen shuttle, they're dropping everything else."

"Thank you." She wasn't sure if she was speaking to the Admiral, or her long time former captain and friend.

"If there are any questions, please inform me. I'm down the hall from your office." He nodded and excused himself.

"Is that all!?" She turned on a heel to Admiral Paris and saw the big grin on his face.

"That's all. Most have decided to... _disregard_ the reports from DS9 on the activities of the Maquis team that Chakotay banded himself with. I'm one of only three who read them completely through."

Kathryn hugged him, a rare display between them, but this one was deserving of it.

He wished them goodnight and left, Tuvok following behind.

Kathryn perched on the arm of the chair Chakotay was in and sat quietly as Riley and Erin talked on the couch at the farthest point in the living room. After a long while she realized Chakotay was watching her.

"You know something..." He prompted quietly.

"He was devastated... I think he's in love with her."

"Our Riley?" Chakotay leaned away from her to survey her posture.

She nodded and smiled. "We practically raised him. Could you hand pick someone better?"

He laid his head against her thigh and sighed. "I suppose not. _But _he should know I didn't chase her partway across the quadrant so he could steal her away."

She slid from the arm and knelt facing him, her forearms folded, lightly resting on his knees. "I'm very grateful you did." She touched some of the burns and gashes on his nearest arm.

He winced slightly at the touch, but didn't pull back or make a sound.

She noticed anyway. "What happened?"

He told her of the attack, being captured and tortured, and than waking in the sickbay aboard Deep Space Nine.

"And T.J?" She asked hesitantly as she watched the pain flash fresh across his dark face.

"He didn't make it." Chakotay whispered sadly. "He was my closest friend for a _very_ long time, Kathryn. We were in Starfleet together all those years ago, before the Maquis."

She let her fingers probe his arm until they found an undamaged spot and she squeezed tightly. "You're home now. Erin and I... and it looks like Riley too..." She glanced over her shoulder at the pair who were sound asleep, her head on his shoulder and his chin resting atop her head. "...we're all the family you'll ever need. All the love you'll ever need."

Chakotay sighed and pulled Kathryn up toward him.

She settled in next to him, both rather squished in the chair, but comfortable. And they slept the night there.

fin.


End file.
